


Time Won't Change All Of Us

by Inrainbowz



Series: Family Life & Everyday Love [3]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Immortality, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Warlocks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 18:24:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8067982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inrainbowz/pseuds/Inrainbowz
Summary: Magnus noticed that Max seemed pretty down lately. Alec thought he knew why, but he insisted Magnus was the one to talk about it with him. Because it was something only warlocks could understand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I can't leave this pairing alone. I just can't. An other installations in my Family Serie, taking place much later, when their sons are young adults. I am obsessed with the concept of immortality and it's consequences. I'll also expand on Mortal!Magnus soon.
> 
> Thanks to NightChanger for the corrections, enjoy!

Magnus had already been in bed for a few hours when Alec came home to join him. The warlock heard his husband move around the loft, putting his weapons and gear aside before joining him – they had a strict no weapon in the bedroom policy. Alec argued that they were both weapons in their own right anyway.  
Magnus believed it was all the more reasons not to bring anymore.

Alec opened the bedroom door as quietly as possible but relaxed when he noticed Magnus wasn’t actually asleep. He smiled, and Magnus was reminded once again that after all these years he still could have his breath taken away by something as simple as this. As Alec coming home to him and making them both happy in the process. Really, he would never get over it.

“Hey, I thought you’d be asleep,” Alec said while shutting the door behind him. He then went on to remove his clothes, folding them neatly.

“Wasn’t tired, and I was hoping you wouldn’t be back too late,” answered Magnus with a seductive tone that had Alec roll his eyes fondly. “How did it go?”

“Slowly. As usual. Sometimes I miss the days when I was just a mindless soldier. At least it didn’t involve any board meeting and lengthy negotiations with stubborn Shadowhunters and Downworlders.”

“Is it so bad?”

“They are worse than children. It’s a wonder we get anything done at all,” sighed Alec dramatically. Clothes discarded, he slid under the cover and snuggled into  
Magnus’s side with a contented sigh.

“You want to talk about it?” asked Magnus, resting a hand in Alec’s hair.

“No. I already feel better,” the younger man answered with a small smile, eyes closing as Magnus’s hand run through his curls. He was only younger by age now, by look he looked several years older than Magnus. There was a lot of silver strands flowing between his fingers. It was something they had had to make more or less peace with.

Not wanting to think about it, Magnus’s mind jumped to something else.

“You missed Max today. He came by to pick up some magic supplies.”

“It’s alright, I ran into him at the Institute two days ago. His studies are keeping him busy.”

Unlike their oldest son Rafael, who was a full time Shadowhunter, Max consulted as a warlock but his life was, surprisingly, in the mundane world. He was finishing his fourth year of college and lived on campus, another thing Magnus and Alec had had to accept. They saw him often though.

But Magnus was worried about him.

“Did you find him… a little odd?” he asked. Alec shifted, putting some distance between them so that they could look at each other. He looked guarded, cautious.

“Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. He looked tired, preoccupied. He barely smiled. I would have said it’s stress or the workload or something but… I don’t know. I think there is something more.”

Alec, lost in thought, said nothing, which was odd. Out of the two of them, he was the perceptive one when it came to their children. Magnus went on.

“You know he broke up with Anais. I thought they were doing fine. And at the beginning of the year he couldn’t stop talking about doing a PhD or a second degree and now I’m pretty sure he implied he would leave college at the end of the year.”

Alec still had nothing to say, and he was avoiding his gaze, what he always did when he didn’t want to talk about something, because Magnus could read him too well when they made eye contact.

“Alexander? Do you know what’s going on with him?” asked Magnus gently. It wouldn’t be surprising. Alec had that capacity of being in tune with everyone’s emotions – everyone’s but his own really. Be it his siblings, their sons or Magnus himself, he could always sense when something was wrong and guess what it was. It was almost creepy sometimes.

And this time it seemed to be weighing on him if his reaction was anything to go by. He looked sad, resigned.

“I think I do,” he said quietly, and Magnus was surprised by the amount of pain he could hear in his husband’s voice. He took one of Alec’s hand in his and put the other on his cheek, a little lost.

“Hey, hey, what is it?” he asked softly, using his hand to have Alec met his gaze.

“You should talk to him,” Alec said firmly. There was resolution in his eyes, a determination to stand strong, to keep himself together.

“Why, what is it?”

“I may be wrong but I… if I’m not, then you’re the one who should discuss it with him. I can’t help him. Not for this.”

“Okay, you’re scaring me a little, is it so bad?”

Alec cupped his face between his two hands with a look Magnus had come to recognize, a look he hated, because he wished Alec didn’t have to have it, he wished it didn’t exist. It was how Alec looked at him when he was thinking of love and loss, of how unfair it was that Magnus would live on when Alec didn’t and that there was nothing they could do about it. That certitude other people were blessed with not having, to know which one would die and which one would endure, to know for a fact which one would get left behind to deal with his grief, alone. That look, loving and sad and angry all at once, that made them hold on so tight to each other, afraid to let go. 

“I don’t know. But you need to talk to him, fast.”

“I can visit him tomorrow.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Alec kissed him then, and Magnus didn’t like the taste of urgency and desperation in his touches, but he let it go, for now. They kissed again several times, with the lenient, unhurried pace that came with years of sharing this, able to convey love, affection, gratitude, everything and nothing. 

But they had trouble finding sleep that night. 

 

 

Magnus and Max met up at one of the coffee shops on the campus, after the lunch rush. They had done so a few times before, now that Max was the busier of them two. His son sat in front of him and what Magnus had almost dismissed as his paranoid parent fiber was clear as day now that he knew to look for it. Max was agitated. He looked tired and worn out, and he wouldn’t meet Magnus gaze. Something he took after his father, both of them believing in hiding their trouble in order not to worry others, while being incapable of deception. Both of them being the kings of “I’m fine” when they clearly weren't, something Magnus had wasted no small amount of frustration over. 

“Hey dad.”

“Hey. How are you?”

“Fine.”

Magnus resisted very hard rolling his eyes. It would only make Max defensive.

“Right. To be honest, your father and I are worried about you.”

“Is this about college?”

It was one of the issues, so Magnus figured it was as good a start as any.

“Partly.”

“I just grew tired of it. It happens.”

Of course it did, but it didn’t happen to everybody, and it surely didn’t happen to Max. Studious, curious Max who sat in Shadowhunter lectures with his brother just for the hell of it, because he wanted to learn more, always more. Who agonized over which Major to choose because he was interested in everything. 

“We just want to understand,” say Magnus carefully. “It seems a bit… brutal. Did something happen?”

Max pinched his lips and really, it didn’t matter if Magnus wasn’t very perceptive because Alec and him were terrible at hiding their emotions. Rafael was the only one with a good poker face. Angel face really, and he put it to good use. 

“You broke up with Anais,” stated Magnus to change the subject, because he suspected it was linked. A pained expression crossed Max’s face.

“Well it happens too. It wouldn’t have work out anyway.”

“What? Why? I thought you loved her.”

“Yeah well it doesn’t’ change anything does it?” snarled Max and Magnus was surprise by the anger and pain in his voice. 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Why does it matter if I drop out or if I break up with my girlfriend?”

“It’s your life! Of course it matters!”

“No it’s not!”

They were drawing unwanted attention and Max was on the verge of crying. Despite the scream he looked more sad and lost than angry. Magnus put Max’s trembling hands in his, instinctively sending soothing sparks of magic towards him, like he used to do when he was younger. 

“Let’s go home, yeah? You’re upset, and here is not the best place to have this conversation.”

Max sniffed, trying hard to hold back tears, and nodded curtly. Magnus paid for their coffee and took the direction of the subway station, but Max stopped him with a hand on his arm. He was looking at his shoes, like he was ashamed.

“Draw us a portal.”

Magnus stared at his son, confused. Max always preferred using public transportation. He wasn’t very good at drawing portals, but it was more than that. He liked to be part of the world, of the people, of the normal life. 

“Are you sure? We can…”

“Just do it, what’s the point in avoiding it?”

Magnus had the feeling it was about more than just the portal. He was also starting to understand what the issue might be.

They were back in the Brooklyn loft in no time. Magnus texted Alec discreetly to let him know, and see if he could join them. Max needed the support of both his parents right now.

“What is going on Max?” he asked as gently as he could to the young man pacing the living room anxiously. “You can tell me, whatever it is. It’s okay to have sudden changes of heart of course but… it’s more than that right?”

“I just realized that this wasn’t for me, that’s all! I don’t care about any of this anymore. College, Anais and I… it doesn’t matter. None of it matters.”

“Of course it does!”

“For others maybe! But not for us!”, yelled Max before shutting his mouth abruptly, like he had said too much. “Not for me,” he corrected weakly, avoiding his father’s gaze. His anger faded, leaving only sadness. His eyes were shining.

“Daddy I…”

Tears began to fall then, as Max looked at him with a helpless, broken expression that tore Magnus apart. 

“I’m not aging anymore,” he said in one breath.

And as Magnus froze and his thoughts came to a brutal halt, Max burst into tears. 

“I didn’t notice at first,” sobbed his boy with a wavering voice, words tumbling out now that the dam was broken, “but we took out old pictures of the previous years with my college friend the other day and… and… it was just a joke. Just a stupid joke about how I looked exactly the same, and what was my secret, and that when they’re all old and wrinkled and grey I’ll still look like a teenager and I… I will daddy. I will. I will be the same. And Anais, she’s a Shadowhunter, but she’s still mortal. And college, and a relationship, and that life, that’s not, that’s not…”

His voice broke and Magnus crossed the distance between in long, fast steps, to receive the trembling weight of Max in his open arms. The boy collapsed against him, letting out ugly sobs he was desperately trying to hold off, without success. He clung to his father’s shirt, soaking it with tears.

Magnus felt utterly helpless.

He didn’t know what to do, what to say. He knew this day would come but he had never given it much thought. Nothing could make it easier for his son, nothing could fix this, and it was so frustrating. What use were parents if they couldn’t spare their children the pain?

He didn’t notice the front door opening on his husband until Alec stood by their side. They shared a glance, enough for Magnus to understand that this was what Alec had feared, that he had guessed right. Alec pried Max from Magnus’s arms and guided him gently to the couch, where he cried his heart out before falling asleep.

 

 

“I had hoped he would have more time,” Alec breathed out wistfully. He was leaning against the kitchen wall, starring at Max’s sleeping form. Tears and despair had exhausted him and now he was sleeping peacefully, spared from the pain for a little while. 

“You were expecting this,” stated Magnus. He handed Alec a cup of tea before taking hold of his own.

“You know how obsessed I used to be with my own looks. I wasn’t going to miss this.”

“He doesn’t look unchanged to me.”

“I wasn’t sure either, but like he said, pictures are pretty telling.”

Max had repeated the same story to Alec, the difference being Alec could actually offer words of comfort and love instead of being stunned into silence. Magnus sighed heavily.

They migrated naturally toward another, seeking comfort and support. Alec wrapped his arms around the warlock to bring him into his embrace. Magnus rested his head on his shoulder, feeling older and more tired than at the beginning of the day.

“I don’t know what to say to him,” he confessed while Alec rocked them gently. “I don’t remember when it happened to me, I think I didn’t even notice. So much was going on at the time, I was in hiding, scared, lost. I think it took me years to register that time wasn’t changing me anymore, and it was just one thing among many, I didn’t spare it a second thought. But Max…”

“You still know what it’s like now. You two look about the same age now. You’ve been through that before.”

“He can never have a normal life among the mundanes. He’s sentenced to live outside this world, to see it age and change without ever being a part of it. We just… it was so easy to forget. We let him go to college, let him have this life and now…”

“We weren’t going to stop him. He got to enjoy it while he still could, and soon this will be over. There’s nothing we can do about it, apart from being there.”

“I would never wish immortality on anyone,” Magnus escaped in a strangled breath. Alec made a wounded noise and his grip tighten around Magnus. 

“I don’t want him to be alone.”

“I know, but he won’t be,” Alec answered, voice strained with emotions but holding a confidence that admitted no contradiction. “He will have our family and friends and their descents, eventually, but most of all, he will have you.”

Alec took his face in his hands and brought their foreheads together. He was smiling softly, both sad and accepting, peaceful. Magnus couldn’t help but respond to it. 

“He has that chance, Magnus. You will be there, when all are gone. He will never be alone, he doesn’t have to be. And you won’t be either. You won’t have to grieve and to heal alone, neither of you. He’s on that side of the line with you now.”

‘”I would rather be the only one left if it meant he didn’t have to know that pain.”

“I know. I know.”

They stayed like this for a while, secured in their embrace, until they heard Max stir on the couch.

“Daddy? Dad, you there?”

They were by his side in an instant. They sat around him as he rubbed his face from the last traces of tears with an embarrassed laugh.

“Are you okay?” Alec asked, quite lamely. It made them laugh. Max still answered.

“I will be. I will be, it will be okay.”

His smile was weak, but it was there, and it would have to be enough for now.

“It would have been so much fun to look older than you Daddy,” he told Magnus with a wet laugh. “At least I didn’t get stuck as a teenager or worse, a child.”

Their laugh were probably a bit forced, but it was better than nothing. 

“You’re not alone,” declared Magnus firmly. Max met his gaze and held on, still as much as his father’s son as he was when he had nightmare as a child, when he was scared of his spontaneous magic, when he understood his skin and horns weren’t normal among the rest of the world. “Not in this, nor in anything. You’re not alone.”

And that, Magnus reasoned, made all the difference. Max would never have it as hard as he did, he didn’t have to. That was a fate he wasn’t condemned to. That they weren’t condemned to. 

Max nodded, a small but genuine smile playing on his lips. 

“Can I stay here tonight?” he asked with a small voice, as if they were ever going to deny him.

“Of course. I’ll make some dinner. Call Rafael, see if he can join us, would you?” answered Alec, getting in motion again.

“Okay but can we… can we not… make an announcement of it? I don’t… I don’t want it to be a big deal. A bigger deal. He’ll notice eventually right? They all will. But…”

“It’s yours to talk about Max,” Alec answered gently, before going into the kitchen. It had become his kingdom over the years – Alec was a provider. Of all the things he could do, offering food to his family seemed to be the power he was the most proud of. 

Magnus and Max watched him with a fond smile, Magnus’s arm still wrapped around his son’s shoulder.

“You’ll always be handsome then,” Magnus said lightly. “You really take after me.”

“We’re not really related daddy,” Max laughed.

“Details, details.”

A few minutes later dinner and Rafael were on their way, and if Max still looked a little down, he was smiling again. Magnus considered their work was done.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [tumblr](http://inrainbowz.tumblr.com). I'm seriously thinking of creating a sideblog for this fandom. I'll never be over it. I have other OS coming and my long all human AU fic, stay tuned!


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